Detox
by Crazy Dewfus
Summary: A slice of life starring Doctor Needlepoint of my earlier collab "Young Hearts and Transplanted Hearts". What happened when this lifeless mare is pushed to the brink? (This was a one shot made after I got a tablet and wifi back. Enjoy this burst of typing will.)


Disclaimer: You might want to read my previous fic _Young Hearts and Transplanted Hearts_ first. Just sayin'.

 _Some moments in life are so powerful that you break the chains the support you._

Before I start sharing this tale of safety neglect, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Needlepoint and I work at Canterlot General Hospital, the most equipped hospital next to Hoofington who are developing cybernetics. Well, I worked there but I'll get to that soon enough. I hate it. I have a full 12 years worth of medical schooling in my head, with little to no time to myself. I didn't go to flying school, I didn't have friends, and I don't know much about myself (Except my true dream job.). I'm gray with a black and white mane. This, paired with my blue-gray eyes, makes me look like a downer. Sad part is, I am. I blame my overprotective parents 100% who forced me through medical school.

Few things make me happy. My adoptive foals and sewing. That's about it. My foals, Dandelion and Cresent Flare (Earth pony and pegasus respectively) haven't even gotten their cutie marks yet. I think Dandelion is content with waiting, but I know Flare sure as Tartarus ain't.

Dandelion was yellow with a yellow mane, of course. She was as unexciting with me, and I loved it. I've never seen another pony so blueish gray like Cresent before, the same as my eyes. His silver mane sparkled more in the moonlight than in the sunlight which was fine by me.

I actually adopted Dandelion on the job to save her from her sick abusive mother. After awhile she begged me for a little brother, so I adopted Cresent. Sometimes I question whether I should be a mother due to my lack of social experience but it seems to be working out. I don't know what they'd do without me if I were to give them up.

My co-workers are alright I guess. Heartstopper is a little too enthusiastic about her work, and I really wanted to know why. Ivy has a mareboner for her, but 'ol Heartdropper can't see it. Red Cross is the head of the ER and is always on my ass about my work. He and the secretary are gay for each other. Dewfus is our maintenance worker who makes sure this place is running in top condition. There was an exception to his perfect record, but seeing as he had to run the ER by himself while we were all at a party we don't count it against him.

I could suppress my frustration with my job fine until one day…

The alarm rang loudly as usual, bitching at me to get up. It was rewarded with an express trip across my sizeable bedroom. I bought this large Canterlot house years ago with my nurse's salary.

Sitting myself up, I did my morning stretches. The usual ones, so legs, neck, and wings. And back, that one's vital. I slowly walked over to my closet, enjoying every second of my free time. Let's see.. half pale purple uniforms and half buisiness attire that I would nevver wear again. Yay. I grabbed a uniform and opening my bedroom door I could already hear my little angels running down the stairs. "Stop running, you'll sprain a leg." And cue the first morning exchange.

"Mom! We've never got hurt running ever, really!" Cresent was the defiant one. That didn't usually upset me before work. After I've had to deal with impatients, however, he knew better.

"Trust me, I'm a doctor." Part two.

"Nurse" His retort.

"Mother." That always worked. I was still their mother and the only time they complained was when I said no to something they wanted. You know, typical foal mindset. I had reached the kitchen during the exchange in time to see Cresent poking his sister. "Hey, stop that."

"She poked me first!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Cresent Flare, apologise to your sister right now." He did and before they knew it were stuffing pancakes into their mouths. I always considered myself lucky to have made the upper class. My foals were always spoiled, and I wanted I to stay that way. I didn't know for sure what the others spent their wealth on. I know for sure Heartstopper is hiding something…

After breakfast I sent them off to school and trudged to work. At least it wasn't snowing. Well, not like I could push the clouds out of the way (I am a pegasus after all). Weather team gets ruffled when I do that though. Tough shit.

Hospital was quiet. Heart monitor beeping, so one patient fucked up their body like a idiot. I walked over to the bed and took at good look at the patient.

He was the ugliest pony I've ever seen, and we have Dewfus. Brigt purple body with an orange mane. Looked rather fit actually. Might be a strong flier if not for his clipped wings (ouch) and gut wound. Looks like he was shot in the large intestine but it barely missed his liver. Fourty five… Colt? I've been meaning to buck Executive Powder Charge in he face for bringing those guns to Canterlot but I hear his wife is a violent bitch. I'd get my ass hoofed to me.

"Shot with a .45 Colt pistol, hit the intestine and barely missed the liver. Not too serious." I turned and saw Red Cross behind reading the chart. The most steriotypical look for a doctor, white coat, red cross cutie mark, red mane and tail. Unicorn, too. Hear he has a similar looking cousin. "I'm sending him to surgery asap, wanna wheel him up? Beats actually tending to him."

"Sure."

"Thats my girl."

He was always nice to me, making compromises. He knows what happens when I'm pissed. I know a certain concoction that makes a pony bleed like a popped balloon.

I've used it before, and it broke Heartstopper. She thought it was her fault and ran away, taking (or possibly trying to take) the blame with her. It got us in a whole big mess with the Tombstone Mercs and I don't wish that fate on anypony. We got it straightened out, in addition to an apology from Ms. Winters herself. There was something off about her but I couldn't put my hoof on it.

I wheeled him up to the OR and the two surgeons were too happy to take him. It was slow so I decided to take the first of countless breaks. Coffee with a little something extra always gets me through the day. Secret recipe, don't ask. It took awhile, but Red Cross gave the the cross look and so I headed back to work. He wasn't angry with me, just knew where to find me.

It seems as though its been hours and he had to tend to two patients himself, though not as serious as the meat shield from earlier. Who I now had to check up on. Greaaaaat…

When I got to his room, I found that it was guarded by two armed royal guards. Assault rifles? Who was this little bitch? They crossed their rifles in the air in front of me. "Halt. Present ID."

Oh, no no no. "Outta the way, I got a job to do." Wasn't in the mood for this shit.

"Oh, Doctor Needlepoint. Please, be cautious. The patient is dangerous." As they lifted their weapons to let me past, I heard a crumbling noise inside. Dewfus was going to give a lecture… When I turned the corner, I knew I should've stayed in bed.

It happened in slow motion. The patient. Threw. Sharps. At me. For those of you who don't know, sharps are used needles. The orange box on the wall with the flap on the top? Yeah.

I lifted up my wing to block them, but the seven sharps just went between my feathers. Thanks, physics. The feeling of them poking was the most horrifying feeling of my life. I thought I was going to die there.

I ran. And flew. Down the hall. I hit a wall and blacked out.

I woke up in a hospital bed. Looking around I noticed that alot of things were covered in plastic. Including Red Cross. Who looked saddened at me. It took me a moment to figure out what what this meant, but when I did.

"Needlepoint, I'm sorry.. but.."

I have A.I.D.s. I contracted AIDs. AIDs.

"You contracted Auto-Immune Disease from the sharps. We can treat it easily with medication, so this should not be a problem."

"I quit." Did I really say that?

"Excuse me?"

"I said, I quit." I can't believe I just said that. It was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Why is this so big? I didn't wanted to waste my 12 years, and I needed to pay off student debts. I needed the money for my family. My parents would disown me. I put up with this job because of the money and job security. But getting AIDs was crossing the lines. Oh, and Heartdropper picked the worst time to use my nickname.

"Oh hey Sharps. Are you feeling good? I mean, at all." I gave the aqua blu unicorn my hardest look. She recoiled. Geez, her blue and red mane coupled with her coat just screamed cardiologist.

I left without much of a fuss after that.

I cried on the couch without much restraint after that. I cried and cried my aids filled tears for hours. I was done. My life over. It wasn't really the AIDs that hurt, it was the stigma. Poines keep their distance if they think you had it. I had to take medication every few hours to keep it from spreading. I didn't get out much, so one would think this wouldn't be too bad. But the school needed to know about this. What would they think? I was a slut sleeping around even though I had sex only once in college.

I fled to my room and checked my drawers for drugs. Hey, I needed something every once in awhile, right? Then I found THE stash. A syringe and those two ingredients that made wounded ponies' blood flow out of them like a waterfall: One half clot buster and one half blood thinner. I was saving them for the a certain asshole to make my list.. turns out, I did.

I kept a mental list of ponies to kill. That when I caught up with them in the ER they would breathe their last. Inject and let them bleed out. Turns out, I made it into this list. I hated myself so much for staying at that job I hated.

I took the cap off of the syringe.

I hated myself for not standing up to my parents.

I drew most from the clot buster.

For not taking those flying lessons.

I drew most from the blood thinner.

For injecting those ponies with this... stuff.

I strapped the tourniquet onto my leg and found a sizeable vein.

For not being a better parent.

I locked the door, no need for my foals to see this.

For wasting my life.

I inserted the syringe. I would finally suffer the fate I dished out when playing judge, jury, and executioner.

There was a knock at my door. "Mommy? Are you in there?" The knob jiggled. "Ivy told us you were very sad".

Of course Ivy did. She was the closest thing to a friend I had. And she knew how to pull at my heartstrings.

I looked down that the death juice I was about to inject. I had a son and a daughter who had both suffered before I adopted them. They made me happy. They loved me, and I loved them. I couldn't leave them.

When I withdrew the syringe, my emotions flared. It was an AIDs syringe. Like the one that infected me. That didn't matter, it went out the window.

I unlocked the door and both of my little angels ran in and hugged me. I didn't know how to tell them why I was upset. So I just hugged them tight. Had Ivy already told them? Probably not. She had good social skills.

"Mom, Miss Ivy said you were sick and you would tell us about it." That was Cresent, trying to act grown up by saying 'mom' instead of 'mommy'. Wait, Ivy wanted me to explain this? Damn her.

It got better from there, I recovered somewhat. Ivy took me for a girls night out which ended in an orgy. Guess I like both mares and stallions. I got a job working at the Canterlot Boutique. Heard one of the elements of harmony used to own it. Neat I guess. I took to it like a fish to water.

You should've seen the look on my parents' faces when they came in to get fitted for uniforms (because I left they had to come out of retirement). They were furious. I explained I didn't need to do that job because I had paid off my students loans. After an argument filled with profanity I won out and they had to work again. A fitting punishment.

Oh, and after Heartstopper left she did takes those charges with her, so I wasn't charged for any crime. Additionally, when she came back she did not bring them with her. Thats… a whole 'nother story. And the pony that died by injecting the syringe that I threw out the window couldn't be traced back to me, so that lifted the suspicion. I think… I'm free.

Wait.. what is this.. feeling..

I'm… happy.


End file.
